Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-11-11
He could not swallow from cup, and
l soaked towel and gave it to him to
Polar Bears Hunting Seals

The polar bear has quite varied
diet, depending on the season and his
whereabouts. If near country where
waters abound in seal this is his main
sustenance, and the cleverness he dis
plays in catching them is wonderful; for
the Esquimaux considers the seal the
wariest and slyest game in his country,
and especially in the summer time when
the polar bear secures the most. When
seal comes up through the ice on a
pleasant summer day, he is quite wary
at first as he stretches himself for a
comfortable snooze on the ice so close
to his hole that the slightest motion of
his body will send him over the slippery
edge, and with stroke or two Of his
fins and splash of his tail he is out of
sight beneath the ice again. Having
kept sharp lookout in every direction
Tor q number of minutes, and seeing
nothing suspicious, he allows his heavy
head to fall on the ice to take a nap !;
but they are short maps indeed, and
every two or three minutes he raises
his head and surveys the surroundings
for probable mischief. The polar bear,
seeing these movements from the top
of some high hummock of ice, crawls
stealthily on his prey, taking advantage
as much as possible Of every little piece
of rough ice to conceal his figure,
already we'll protected by his white
color on the ice. Having gotten as near
as he possibly can by such methods he
lies flat on the ice and commences
"hitching" himself along by short,
spasmodic actions, Watching the seal
keenly all the while. Should it look
up from its slumbers the bear remains
motionless as piece of ice, for which
he hopes to be taken by this ruse, until
the seal throws his head down again,
when he once more commences "hitch-
ing" forward. By this series of very
slow and laborious creepings he manages
to get within ten or twenty feet of his
victim, when, watching his best oppor-
tunity when the seal is in the midst of
one of hisshort slumbers, he makes a
quick rush, striking it over the head
with his paw, and grasping it by the
neck with his teeth. A single miscal-
culation in this scheme and the seal is
below the ice through his hole, dashing
q mass of spray in Mr.. Bruins face
with his plant tail. Should the seal
have crawled up on the edge of an ice
foe from the water and attempt to
escape thereto, the bear being close
upon him, the latter will not hesitate
so the Esquimaux say-to dive after the
seal, and, although in the water the
seal is his superior in activity, OCCASION
ally the bear is rewarded with his prey
by lucky snap of his paws. The po-
lar bear is credited with killing walrus,
but [ think he never attacks any but
the smaller ones in a fair combat, so
much larger is the walrus than his
bearship. The Esqimaux claim-and I
think their story is true-that the polar
bear has been known to take stone or
huge piece of ice in his forepaws, and,
from favorable attitude-the side of
an iceberg or the top of cliE-hurl
this missile with such certainty as to
alight on walrus' head, and so stun it
that its capture becomes easy after
wards. Schavatka.